Hair Fair 2017 – Most Valuable Players

As Hair Fair 2017 draws to a close this Sunday, I did not want to leave this until after the event was over, but let you all in on the people that help make this event happen. There were a few new faces to making this year’s Hair Fair fantastic and they were instrumental in its success, and we owe them a huge thank you from everyone involved in Hair Fair 2017.

Over the years Anya has participated in Hair Fair when she was able, and has always had such a huge impact on the event, with her creativity and imagination. So this year when we had the idea to take Bandanas in a new direction, giving people the opportunity to bandana, but in a way they felt more comfortable…Anya sprang to mind. We knew she was busy, and had put feelers out in another direction, but after talking to myself looking at her IM box for a few days, I took the plunge and she jumped on board as only Anya can.

Anya had our Hair Fair Hares made, incorporating the bandanas that Mel Vanbeeck created, then labeled and ready for action within days, and it was so heartwarming not only to have her want to be part of the project, but she got it and ran with it in such Anya fashion it was an awesome experience. With her kindness and generosity the Hair Fair Hares have been a huge success, I have even been sent IMs about them, and pictures of people decorating their homes with them. In her true giving nature, she has also given them to us to use in the manner intended as long as we want, so expect to see more Hair Fair Hares in the upcoming years.

Thank you so much Anya for all that you have done in the past, and all that you have done now, to really add to the event.

Known for her fancy footwear ( Livalle ) , and adorable nature, Lindsey was our Master Builder this year in the form of the thatch cottages that are this years booth design. We have not had an outside builder for many years, and it took a lot to trust the event in anyone’s hands. One name only sprang to mind if we were going to do that, and that was Lindsey’s. We asked, she said yes, and right on schedule we had the booths all ready and able to be incorporated into the build ahead of time.

Lindsey was able to see our vision, take it away and come back with what was needed, she was so easy to work with, and truly went above and beyond with the design, giving us the ability to texture and modify in ways we had not foreseen at the time, such as colour coding the shutters for each row, and being able to colour the thatch for the sim names. Also the level of trust in us to give us her work, knowing that it would only be used as intended, as that trust definitely has to go both ways.

Thank you Lindsey so much for all that you did, and that you did so with a lot going on at the time, and still put us as first as you could, we are really truly appreciative of your work.

Mel Vanbeeck :

Always one of our MVP’s Mel was traveling a lot of the earlier part of this year, but while the major parts of Hair Fair were being organised and discussed, he was logging in on some of the craziest internet options I have ever heard of to provide a helping hand. His scripting is what makes Hair Fair so seamless, and his bandanas have been integral in additional fundraising each year. This year also incorporating them into Anya’s Hair Fair Hares.

He puts up with a lot of crazy leading up to, during and after Hair Fair with both myself and Whimsy, and this year had to sit and wait for me to stop crying because he started talking math and I got overwhelmed (this is true, this happened) there is actually a lot more math involved with events than one would ever imagine, especially when involving numerous sims. Mel is also responsible for the layout, the maps and just the overall calm that helps the event take place.

Thank you so much Mel for being such a huge part of Hair Fair each and every year, even when using some kind of pocket internet that seems to run by hamster.

Whimsy does a lot of behind the scenes work with Hair Fair each year, contacting Designers, group space allocation and setting up flickr, and every other thing that may be needed at a moment’s notice.

She also has a huge input into the landscaping, and tszujing of the sims. She has an incredible ability to pull just about anything out of her inventory, and make a thing that joins another thing, and makes the first thing even better. She bandanas, covers the event with blog posts, and helps keep everything on track for the many months leading up to the event.

We are very grateful for her efforts each and every year, as she has been a part of Hair Fair since 2009, and we thank her very much for all she does.

HairOlogy is a monthly event that keeps the Hair Community together all year. They not only promote Hair Fair leading up to, so that their participants do not miss out, but they also shut down to give them time to work on their Hair Fair releases, we are truly thankful and appreciative of all that they do at HairOlogy and hope that both events keep going strong for many years to come.

A fantastic group in Second Life to keep up to date on all things hair. Each year leading up to and during the event, Hair SL lets their group members know about Hair Fair and how important it is as an event. We are very grateful to them for that, and look forward to that group growing in numbers, and doing exciting things for Hair in the future.

A huge thanks to the team over at Firestorm for incorporating Messages into the log in screen. This is the third year now that they have promoted Hair Fair for us, and it has made a huge difference on how many people hear about it. Lassie is the MOTD organiser and her enthusiasm is a joy to see, it makes us so happy to log in seeing something we help create being splashed across the log in and knowing it has reached so many wonderful people that help us help Wigs for Kids each year.

Bandana Creators :

We always wanted to let people that are not Hair Creators do something that would give them the opportunity to help us help Wigs for Kids, and the bandanas have been doing that since 2007. It has always been a community driven part of the event, and the notecards that come with are so moving and so much insight into how much doing so helps people help others.

Bandana Day is how I joined Hair Fair in 2007, and it was an idea that the whole of SL embraced and I have been very proud of…thank you to everyone in all the years that have created or purchased a bandana, or now a Hair Fair Hare.

The early access bloggers have been amazing this year, reblogging, posting as much information as possible, and spreading much love through the Hair community. Hair is such a great part of people’s looks in Second Life, and it being so important is what may help many of us understand how important helping Wigs for Kids is. We are always so happy to have as many bloggers as we can share in the preview of the event, get excited leading up to, and being the communicators of the event and all that it is to their readers. It is through them that information is shared and through their dedication and style, people come in droves to visit the event. Thank you all so much, not only to those that did get early access, but those that still featured the event and items from it in their blogs.

Hair Fair Participants/Creators :

Lastly and most importantly, a huge thank you to all the participants of this years Hair Fair. Without you all the event would not exist, it is a show of community spirit that we are most proud of each and every year. The ability to stand side by side your fellow Hair stylists and show the Second Life community that this is your show, your event. To show you are proud of not only your achievements, and growth as creators year to year, but to do so in a way that benefits children that suffer from Hair Loss.

We sometimes lose creators along the months leading up to the event, RL happens, but it is their initial enthusiasm for the event that helps it occur. Everyone from sign up to the closing of the sims, has helped us doing something wonderful, this year and past years. Hair Fair has raised tens of thousands of U.S dollars for Wigs for Kids to date, and we hope with the help of the entire Second Life community to do more in future.
Thank you to all our Most Valuable Players….

7 thoughts on “Hair Fair 2017 – Most Valuable Players”

Since she never would toot her own horn, I’m thanking Sasy Scarborough for her tireless efforts before during and after Hair Fair. Having been part of the committee for three years previously, I got to see and participate in the sheer enormity of the work and drive it takes to make this event happen. This driving force is Sasy. She will be up for days on end just to make sure everyone from bloggers to designers are taken care of. Mel normally has to make her go to bed! To my beautiful Sasy, we thank YOU for all you do every year. Your heart and spirit and intrinsically linked with the event and it wouldn’t be the same without you. ❤